Influence

Steve Huey of Allmusic believes the musical style of Slayer makes the band stronger than the other members of the "Big Four" thrash metal bands Metallica, Megadeth and Anthrax, all of which rose to fame during the 1980s. Slayer's "downtuned rhythms, infectious guitar licks, graphically violent lyrics and grisly artwork set the standard for dozens of emerging thrash bands" and their "music was directly responsible for the rise of death metal" states MTV, ranking Slayer as the sixth "greatest metal band of all time," also ranking number 50 on VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock. Hanneman and King ranked number 10 in Guitar World's "100 greatest metal guitarists of all time" in 2004, and were voted "Best Guitarist/Guitar Team" in Revolver's reader's poll. Lombardo was also voted "Best Drummer" and the band entered the top five in the categories "Best Band Ever," "Best Live Band," "Album of the Year" (for Christ Illusion), and "Band of the Year."

The band's 1986 release, Reign in Blood has been an influence to extreme and thrash metal bands since its release. The album was hailed the "heaviest album of all time" by Kerrang! Magazine, a "genre-definer" by Stylus Magazine, and a "stone-cold classic upon its release" by Allmusic. In 2006 it was named the best metal album of the last 20 years by Metal Hammer. Richard Christy, former member of Death was blown away by Dave's performance on the album Reign in Blood, as was Cannibal Corpse drummer Paul Mazurkiewicz.

Drummer Lombardo has been an influence on many modern metal drummers including Ray Herrera of Fear Factory, Pete Sandoval of Morbid Angel, former Cradle of Filth drummer Adrian Erlandsson, and Krisiun drummer Max Kolesne. Patrick Grün of Caliban's inspiration to play drums came from Lombardo, with Jason Bittner of Shadows Fall inspired by Lombardo's double bass, utilizing double bass when starting his own music career.